In the pampas grasslands of Montauk, New York, dancer Habby “Hob” Jacques explores and redefines the environment through movement. As he glides across vast open fields and coastlines like a regal bird, each bend, pop, and flow of his liquid joints channel the poetry of the landscape.

“I wanted the film to embody a feeling of boundless motion, peace, reflection, and hope,” says director Jess Hu who collaborated on Danes Le Noir with Jacques. "We may not know what the future holds but we find the answers in moving with true intention.”

The pair created the dance film in 2020 as a response to growing global uncertainty. The team also took this short film as an opportunity to redefine flexing, a dance style that started in Jamaica and was transplanted to Brooklyn's street dance scene a couple of decades ago.

“To achieve the focus of redefining space as a whole,” says Hu, “we needed to break away from the conventions of society and expectations.” By pairing flexing in a vast open space with a gentle piano score, the director elevates and shifts the perspective of where movement can live.

Flexing has long been a competitive dance staple where groups of shirtless men (typically) transfigure their bodies for the awe and hysteria of a circling crowd. Jacques performs with liquid ease moves that would be excruciating for most. The Haitian-American dancer seemingly dislocates his elbows to send his bifurcated arms on a 360-degree tour of his body. Every unnerving twist and jaw-dropping rotation is a showstopper, which is why it is of no surprise that Jacques—as part of a troupe of bonebreakers—has performed in Madonna’s MDNA tour, Rihanna’s Anti world tour, and Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s On The Run North America tour.

The sensitive fluidity of Jacques’ incredulous moves hints at the emotional roots of flexing, which developed in the US as a protest dance. As the style is recodified and reimagined by movement artists around the world, its central theme of freedom and improvisation remains unchanged.

“We traveled hours to the absolute tip of the state, hoping to escape in the silence and come out with clear eyes,” says the directors. “Much like ourselves, the day started as a thunderstorm and ended with clear skies. It is from this journey that we present Dans Le Noir, a moment to be yourself and how space can bring about moments of expansion and awakening within oneself.”